We compare the two payment processors

Update: Samsung has added two more banks in the UAE that support Samsung Pay and the article has been updated accordingly.

Samsung Pay was released for consumers in the UAE six months ago, and last week Apple followed suit by making Apple Pay available in the UAE as well. Both these services allow the user to pay at thousands of locations using their Galaxy smartphones or iPhones.

We compared Samsung Pay to Apple Pay to find out which one was easier to set up, which banks were supported, and, where you could use these services. That last one was a bit tricky to measure since there are thousands of places that accept both. We’ll get into how we decided to test that later, but let's start by talking about which devices support these platforms.

Samsung Pay supports three more banks than Apple Pay at the moment which puts Samsung Pay in the lead with the number of supported banks.

Setting up Samsung Pay and Apple Pay, and their respective apps

The setup process is fairly easy for both of these platform - just make sure your phone is updated to the latest OS. You need a Samsung account to use Samsung Pay or an Apple account to use Apple Pay. The process of adding a bank’s card is similar in both.

On the iPhone, you launch the Wallet app and proceed to add a card. You can then scan the card using the camera or type out the details manually. Once you have added the card, the bank sends you a verification code that’s needed to complete the process. When your iPhone is set up, Apple also lets you set up your Apple Watch if you have one that is already paired with the iPhone.

On your Galaxy phone, the process is fairly similar. You open up the Samsung Pay app and add your card using the camera or typing it manually. Samsung gives you one additional option which is to tap your card on the phone if your card is equipped with NFC chip. Once you card is added, you verify it with your bank.

Following the card setup, Samsung doesn’t automatically let you set up your Gear Watch - you’ll have to separately do that instead. However, aside from your bank card, the Samsung Pay app also allows you to add loyalty cards from the likes of Emirates airlines or the many supermarkets present around Dubai. The Samsung Pay app also has a section for ongoing promotions and vouchers encouraging its usage.

Although the setup process of adding a bank card is similar on both Apple and Samsung devices, we prefer Samsung Pay because of the versatility of the app allowing you to store loyalty cards as well as learn about promotions and receive vouchers.